This book makes two contributions one theoretical and one historical. The human tragedies of the last decade’s civil wars precipitated an emerging view among many statesmen, international lawyers, human rights activists, and analysts that the sovereignty principle should be eroded. States that are hard on their people should lose their customary international legal right to be free from foreign intervention. Instead, outside powers can and should intervene to put things right when governments fighting for their survival fail to conform to others’ principles and norms. This book traces how the attack on sovereignty emerged during Yugoslavia’s dissolution, and how it contributed to that dissolution. It directs attention to the negative consequences that did arise, and will arise, once the sovereignty principle is compromised. Yugoslavia’s dissolution produced a body of historical, autobiographical, and analytic publications much of it impressive, but much of which also succumbed to the temptation of attributing evil outcomes to evil men mostly evil Serbian men, and good outcomes to good men and women, mostly U.S. and western European. This book marks the beginning of a new approach to the understanding of these important and tragic events, a more historically familiar tale distributing responsibility among multiple parties, inside and outside- parties with mixed motives, poor information, bad theories, limited political skill, and malleable principles.